


First Step

by Mimm



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, Pre-femslash if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 23:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12467900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimm/pseuds/Mimm
Summary: Making new friends on Daedalus, step one.





	First Step

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mlraven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlraven/gifts).



There was a pleasant twinge of pain on Laura's right shoulder blade as she stretched out her arm and reached for the showerhead to readjust its angle. The workout had been a good one, she thought. Despite the limited number of equipment at their disposal, she had a feeling that the few weeks she would spend on Daedalus would turn out fine.

The warm, soapy water ran down along her spine as she combed her fingers through her hair. With her eyes closed, it almost felt like she was in her own shower and not travelling in space, between galaxies, a million miles from anything she had ever considered familiar. The sensation was disrupted by a feint chime, and instinctively she reached for her ear to adjust the ear piece, but there was none. It sat neatly placed on the edge of the sink.

The sound repeated. It came from the other side of the bathroom door.

She rinsed herself quickly, then turned off the water and walked to the door, water dripping all over the floor, and opened the door to a cool wave of air.

"Just a minute," she shouted, then turned around to grab a towel. She bowed down to wrap it around her wet hair and then took another towel to wrap around herself. She looked at herself in the mirror and gave her reflection a grimace, then picked up the headset just in case. If this was one of her commanding officers with a late night assignment, she wasn't sure she'd be able to give it her best, but she sure as hell would try. Atlantis expedition was a chance of a life time. Ten life times.

When Laura reached the outer door and opened it, she expected to see a uniform, but instead she saw a young woman who looked a little out of place, wearing a black t-shirt and grey joggers. Her brown hair was in a ponytail and she looked vaguely familiar, but Laura couldn't place her anywhere in particular. She had only been on Daedalus for three days and had yet to familiarize everyone on board, and so far she had mostly seen people in their uniforms.

"Hi?" she said, aiming for a friendly smile.

"Sorry, I can come back later," the woman said, looking a little embarrassed, and turned around to leave.

Laura looked down at her pink towel and bare toes, then up at the visitor.

"No, I was just in the shower. Well, obviously," she said. "I mean, now's fine."

The woman gave her a grin.

"Hi, I'm Pat. Pat Meyers," she said with a little raise and wave of her hand. "Welcome to Daedalus."

Then it clicked. Laura had seen her in the mess hall the other day, having lunch with two other officers. She was a pilot, or so Laura had been told when she had asked about the pretty woman with her hair in a bun.

"Thanks. Laura Cadman. Nice to meet you," Laura said, offering her hand. Pat's hand felt warm, the grip firm.

"Sorry to bug you like this," Pat began, then paused. "See, we have this girls' thing we do a couple times a week, just a casual meet-up, nothing work-related. I thought that since you're new around here and probably don't know anyone yet, maybe you'd like to join us. If you want?"

"Sure. Now?"

"Yeah, unless you'd rather skip tonight," Pat said, looking at Laura's towel. "I'm sure the others would understand."

"No, no, I'd love to join you," Laura said. "If you give me a moment to finish up first."

She looked over her shoulder at her quarters. Everything looked decent enough, with a few pieces of clothing strewn around on the bed and sofa. Most of her things were still packed, waiting for her to properly settle in. Only a few photos and two books on the desk implied this was her place and not someone else's.

"You want to come in?" she asked, and without waiting for a reply she made way for Pat to step in.

Pat gave her a half-smile and walked past her, looking at the floor, then carefully around the place before walking to the end of the sofa. Leaning against the armrest, there was a red heart-shaped pillow, one of the few personal items Laura had taken out. Pat picked it up as she sat down.

"My sister has one of these. It's yellow," she said, then paused. "I heard it's your first time on a ship this big," she continued. "How's it been so far?"

Laura was kneeling next to one of her suitcases, searching through her clothes. She grabbed a few shirts and a pair of black slacks along with underwear.

"I still wake up thinking this is all just a dream, but then I see that," she said and nodded towards the window and the darkness of space, a stark contrast to the warm lighting in the quarters. Making sure her towel wouldn't fall off, she stood up and tiptoed to the bathroom.

"It took me about a week," Pat said. "And even after that, the worst part was when I wanted to call someone back home and realized I'd have to go through official channels for that to happen. Which isn't really an option."

"So it's like off-world missions?" Laura asked, looking at herself in the mirror, comparing the two shirts before settling on the blue one.

"More or less. Only longer and much less exciting."

"You said you have a sister. Do you have other family waiting?" Laura asked.

"Parents and an older brother and a younger sister. We just had a family dinner a week ago."

"Do they know?" Laura asked. "What you do, I mean."

"Just that I work in the military. Yours?"

"Same," Laura said, tousling her damp hair, then adding a dab of lotion on her face. She gave herself one final look, then stepped out of the bathroom. "Is this fine?"

Pat put away the heart pillow she still had in her lap and gave Laura a long look. She looked pleased, then gave her an approving nod. "Perfect."

Laura grabbed her sports drink bottle, then picked up her ear piece just in case, and glanced around the place.

"I think I'm ready," she said.

Pat lead their way down along the corridor, pointing at the doors and telling Laura who lived where, until they stopped behind one.

"And this here is our stop. Lindsey Novak."

That was a name Laura knew. As the door opened, a low thump of upbeat music flowed to the corridor, drowned by chatter and occasional bursts of laughter. She stepped in and saw a varied group of women, some of them sitting on a sofa, some on the floor. It reminded Laura of the pajama parties from her teenage years.

"Everyone, this is Laura Cadman. Laura, this is everyone."

"Hello," Laura said to the group, hearing the door close behind her. The eager welcomes that followed made her feel like she'd just come home.

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you might call Pat Meyers Emma Cooper instead, as that's her name tag in the earliest episode(s), but I decided to stick with the later name Pat Meyers as that's the one Wikis use for her.


End file.
